6 May 2011
MADRID - Hopes of recovering the 22 migrants alive who went missing when a rubber dinghy sank are virtually nonexistent by now; those missing include a woman and 2 children.
They were on board the vessel along with some 30 other passengers, who were rescued by the Marine Rescue Agency at dawn today, 23 miles south of Melicena, on the coast of Granada.
According to sources from the rescue unit, the vessel had almost sunk when help arrived, along with customs surveillance, and managed to rescue 30 migrants, all of whom are of sub-Saharan origin. While the migrants were being transferred from one vessel to the other, the rubber dinghy was about to capsize, resulting in some 20 people throwing themselves overboard.
According to survivor accounts, these included a woman, a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old. In his statement to the media, Marine Rescue Agency chief for Almeria Miguel Zea, who coordinates rescue operations, explained that there was "virtually no hope" of finding the missing migrants alive, especially due to the low temperature of the water in Alboran Sea, which allows for a survival time of approximately 10 hours. Of the migrants who were brought to safety and disembarked in Motril, two women and two children were taken to hospital to be treated for serious hypothermia.
Source: ANSAmed.
Add your comment
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
